Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) Upgraded to Hold at Macquarie

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Macquarie to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on BRZE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Braze from $55.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank raised shares of Braze from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Braze from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Braze in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Braze in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.32.

Braze Stock Performance

Braze stock opened at $31.46 on Wednesday. Braze has a fifty-two week low of $29.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of -26.66 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.14.

Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.12. Braze had a negative net margin of 22.01% and a negative return on equity of 25.89%. The business had revenue of $145.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.30) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Braze will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Roger H. Lee sold 56,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.27, for a total transaction of $1,720,244.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 56,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,244.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Braze news, insider Myles Kleeger sold 9,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.37, for a total value of $379,693.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 206,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,536,285.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Roger H. Lee sold 56,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.27, for a total transaction of $1,720,244.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 56,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,244.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 201,658 shares of company stock valued at $7,980,396. Company insiders own 24.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Braze

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&G PLC boosted its stake in shares of Braze by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 262,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,415,000 after purchasing an additional 91,161 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Braze by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Braze by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Braze in the 3rd quarter valued at $20,794,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Braze by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 25,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 7,103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.47% of the company’s stock.

About Braze

Braze, Inc operates a customer engagement platform that provides interactions between consumers and brands worldwide. The company offers Braze software development kits that automatically manage data ingestion and deliver mobile and web notifications, in-application/in-browser interstitial messages, and content cards; REST API that can be used to import or export data or to trigger workflows between Braze and brands' existing technology stacks; Partner Data Integrations, which allow brands to sync user cohorts from partners; Data Transformation, in which brands can programmatically sync and transform user data; and Braze Cloud Data Ingestion that enables brands to harness their customer data.